


To Be Like Them

by AlexanderYamilton



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Based on a True Story, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, I fell just as much if not more, Multi, except mine was far less romantic, if the amount of falling seems unrealistic, watch out for hardcore hand holding, you clearly haven't met me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-26
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-06-04 14:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6662875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexanderYamilton/pseuds/AlexanderYamilton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An afternoon on the lake with friends (and maybe more??) (Or: John Laurens illegally docks a boat, and I can't write a summary to save my life)</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be Like Them

“All right, just make sure not to move around too much, or you’ll tip the boat, and don’t try to dock the boat anywhere but here. Otherwise, the boat’s all yours for the next half hour. Ready to go?”

Three of the four teens nodded in assent, Lafayette having been texting since getting off the bus, and showing no signs of stopping. With that, the attendant gave the boat a final push, and they were off.

“Have fun, you guys!” she have them a wave before turning to help the next group, Peggy and Stephen, into their boat.

As part of the summer-long History Enrichment Camp Program provided by King’s College, teens from all over had the opportunity to travel around, visiting historical sites all around the east coast. This camp was the very reason that the self-proclaimed Revolutionary Set of 17-year-old Hercules Mulligan and John Laurens, and 16-year-old Alexander Hamilton and Lafayette (who’s name was, they claimed, “too damn long”) came to be (Alex’s quiet crush on John following soon after.) From the moment they met, the quartet of teens was inseparable, and their troublemaking unstoppable, much to the collective amusement and dismay of the program directors.

It was through this program that the four teens (and Peggy) came to find themselves in the middle of a lake at a historic resort on their first trip of the summer.

“Man, it really is a great day for this, isn’t it?” Laurens said this as he leaned back and closed his eyes, soaking in the sun behind Alex.

For a moment, Alexander found himself unable to respond, distracted by the way the sunlight shone on John’s freckles, until a shouted greeting from across the lake, returned in equal volume by Hercules, snapped him out of it.

“Oh, yeah, we seriously got lucky. It’s not even that hot out or anything”

“It helps that we’re in the middle of the mountains…” Lafayette mumbled this as they took a picture of the mountains in question, before returning to their rapid texting

Hercules paused in his rowing to try and catch a glimpse of his friend’s phone “Laf, who the hell are you texting so much?”

“They’re probably texting their secret other group of friends,” Alex said, looking past Hercules as he also tried to peek at the phone screen.

“Yeah, I bet they’ve got a whole bunch of cooler friends, and they’re talking about how lame we all are,” John said, making Alex laugh until he leaned on Alex’s shoulder in a fake pout, causing the younger boy’s breath to catch.

Lafayette sighed, finally pocketing their phone. “Not quite, though I must agree that the three of you could only dream to be on _mon amour’s_ level.”

The three boys hummed in understanding; they all knew Lafayette’s girlfriend, who attended the camp as well, but was missing the first trip to visit family in France.

“Tell Adrienne we say hi,” John said, giving up his seat at the back of the boat to take the spot next to Alexander to get closer to his friends.

Or, he attempted to, before the boat rocked as it collided with another, sending John toppling over onto Alex’s lap.

“Well, if it isn’t Lizzie Sanders!” Hercules dropped the ores in favor of giving the girl in the opposite boat responsible for the crash a high five. “It’s great to see you again”

Lizzie laughed and returned the sentiment, Dolley giving them an apologetic grin and Abigail furiously texting from her seat, seemingly oblivious to whatever was happening, mumbling “stupid boy...can’t even sign up on time…”

John looked up at Alexander with a bright smile “whoops, bad timing, huh?” He straightened himself and sat beside Alex, who nodded and gave a nervous smile in return.

“Adrienne says hi,” Lafayette, who’s phone was out once more, spoke up in the midst of whatever Hercules and Lizzie were saying about “new girlfriend” and “also Elizabeth” before looking back down to respond to their girlfriend’s latest text, Dolley leaning over to ask them to say hi to Adrienne for her as well, while Abigail continued her own rapid-fire texting.

“Hey, Abigail,” Alex said, “wanna tell Adams I said hi while you’re at it?” Abigail rolled her eyes, the only sign that she’d even heard Alex, and continued to ignore him, groaning about ‘inability to fill out a damn form.”

Alexander huffed, and turned to talk to John, who was already busy admiring the lake around them, leaving Alex with nothing to do but take in his own surroundings.

Everyone knew that Laf and Adrienne were perfect together, having been a couple since way before the Revolutionary Set had even met, and were obviously madly in love.

Hercules and Lizzie had tried out a relationship for a few weeks during their first summer in the program before deciding they were better off as friends. The ‘also Elizabeth” was Eliza Schuyler, whom he had finally met while visiting Peggy over Spring Break, and their relationship seemed to have settled into something that made them both happy if the stories Herc was telling Lizzie were any indication. Or, at the very least, it proved that Hercules had a type.

Peggy and Stephen, who had shared a hurried, awkward kiss at the end-of-summer party last year, and hadn’t spoken again until today, seemed to be falling fast by the looks of the shy smiles they shared as they each manned an ore to push their boat along the water.

Heck, even Abigail and her boyfriend, John Adams, seemed to be happy when Adams wasn’t doing something dumb like forgetting to sign up for camp and struggling to navigate last-minute signup.

Stealing another glance at Laurens, Alex knew that this, whatever it was that all his friends seemed to have, was what he really wanted. He realized that what they had, he wanted for himself and John.

Before he could chicken out, Alexander took his chance, and oh-so gently placed his hand on top of John’s.

At that exact moment, John froze, stiffening the moment their hands met.

Mouth dry, Alex tried to speak, terrified of what would happen when John turned around.

 _Was I overstepping?_ He thought _Oh god, I shouldn’t have tried this, I-_ “Laurens?”

John turned to face him, eyes wide with a smile just as brilliant. “Alex. Look!” He took Alexander’s hand, directing it toward a pair of logs with what looked to be small black blobs on them. “Do you see them?”

Alex stared back, confused. “Uh…the blobs?”

“Not blobs. _Turtles_ ,” he clarified, smiling even more, his nose wrinkling with the effort.

 _Ah, that made sense_ ; if there was one thing Alexander knew about John Laurens, it was that he was endlessly fascinated with marine life, turtles moreso than anything. (Another thing would be that he was even cuter when he smiled like that, his adorable freckled nose scrunched up)

 _Maybe this is my chance._ Alex realized _I can’t throw away my shot_

“Hey Herc,” Alex interrupted his friend, tapping him on the shoulder “John saw some turtles over there; do you think we could get closer and look at them?”

As he turned to Lizzie to apologize, she waved them off “Nah, go on ahead. We should get going; gotta make the most of the next hour and a half on the water before check-in with GWash.”

“The boat rental is only for 30 minutes,” Dolley pointed out

With that, Lizzie just laughed and rowed away. “I’d love to see the attendant try and get us all the way out here”

Hercules shook his head fondly as he began rowing as well, when Laf put their phone away again, slumping over the edge of the boat.

“C’mon, Laf,” Alex reached around Hercules to poke his moping friend “just because Adrienne doesn’t want to text you every minute, it doesn’t mean you have to act like this all week.”

“She’s eating dinner,” Lafayette clarified “and I’m sorry, I’ve just missed her. She’s been gone two weeks, and it doesn’t exactly help to hear Hercules going on about Eliza and seeing you and Laurens giving each other the _eyes_ every time I look at you”

Alex whipped his head around, scared that John might have heard, but his attention was still captured as they got closer to the turtles. Letting out a sigh of relief, he turned back to Laf, trying to appear indifferent. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lafayette snorted, “of course you don’t.”

Alex was just about to ask what that was supposed to mean, when John nudged him on his way to the back of the boat, reaching for the attached rope. “Laurens, what’re you doing?”

“I’m gonna tie the rope to that fallen tree over there so I can walk over there and really get a good look at them,” John said matter-of-factly, already starting to knot the rope.

“You’re not allowed to dock the boat there,” Hercules reminded him.

“That didn’t stop Thomas and Madison” Lafayette noted, gesturing toward a gazebo on the other shore where the boys in question were sitting, not far from where they tied their boat.

Alex scowled “That’s because Jefferson is an asshole who thinks he’s above the rules.”

Looking at the two of them sitting peacefully, Madison giving his companion a grateful look, Alex recalled when he and Madison were friends. The two of them used to work together to find background info on their trip locations to impress the tour guides and directors with their knowledge, before Jefferson decided to join his friend the next summer. Regardless of his differences with the two, he knew that James never did well under direct sunlight for too long, and that gazebo was probably the only shady spot around the lake.

“He probably had a good reason for once,” he relented with a shrug, before smirking, “but so do we.” Turning to John, he smiled, “Go dock the boat.”

John gave him a thumbs-up and continued to do just that.

Now, Converse Shoes are great, and always stylish, but one thing they aren’t is non-slip. That being said, John happened to be wearing his favorite pair of them that day, which is probably why he immediately slipped the moment he stepped out of the boat onto a water-slick rock toward the shore.

“Shit,” he cursed as he attempted to stand back up, only to slip again. “Jesus fuck-” he continued to grumble profanities when Alex offered up his hand to help him up.

“You okay, John?” Hercules asked, as Alex pulled his friend to his feet.

“Yeah,” John replied, wincing “I’m all goo- oh _shit_ ”

The three friends froze “What?” Lafayette asked, eyes full of concern “did you hurt something?”

John looked to his left, and then let out a relieved sigh. “I thought I might have scared off the turtles”

His friends let out some cross between groaning and laughter, also relieved.

Watching his steps carefully now, John quietly made his way toward the turtles, settling on the ground next to their log, eyes wide in awe. He gently ran a finger one’s shell before lifting his hand to wave his friends over.

Lafayette gave a skeptical glance toward their other two friends. “We’re not going over there, are we?”

“Oh, hell no. Not after watching him fall on his ass like that,” Herc assured them.

“Well, I’ll go over” Alex said, trying to ignore knowing look on Laf’s face as he got out of the boat.

“Whatever, man. If you fall too, don’t come crying to us” Hercules shrugged before pulling out his phone

Alexander did not slip, thank you very much, and managed to make it to John without incident.

“Hey,” John said, smiling as Alex sat down beside him. “Are the other two coming?”

“Nah, they didn’t want to. Not that there really would have been enough room for all four of us, anyway”

John shrugged “Their loss. Here, check these guys out.” He motioned for Alex to get closer, pointing to the smallest turtle “see the markings on this one’s shell? Isn’t he just beautiful?”

Alex didn’t really know what markings he was supposed to be looking at, but the turtle’s shell was very pretty, so he nodded anyway. “He’s great, John. But are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. My shorts are soaked, and only one of my shoes got wet, but I’m really okay. Soggy, but good.”

Alex nodded, looking down toward the water when his eyes caught a flash of red. “Shit, John, your leg is bleeding.”

“Huh?” John looked “well, shit,” he laughed “I guess I am. I was wondering why my leg stung like that. It’s not so bad; I mean…” he trailed off as he examined the damage to his leg “I’m more scraped up than anything.” He stared at the scrapes for a moment longer, and then turned his attention back toward the turtles. “Yo, watch this.” He then gently picked up one of the turtles, holding it with both hands right beneath his face as it poked its head out. John grinned and turned to face Alex again. “How do we look?”

Alexander smiled in return “You look adorable, John.” He winced as that admission left his mouth before he could stop it. “Wait, fuck, I mean, the both of you. The turtle. It’s a cute turtle.”

John bit his lip, trying not to laugh “Nice save, man”

“Thanks, I try,” Alex mumbled, embarrassed

Sighing, John put the turtle back. “I really wish I could take him home with me, you know? I’d take great care of him.”

“You wouldn’t have anywhere to really put him until the end of the summer. Plus he’s got all of his family and turtle pals here,” Alexander pointed out.

“That’s true. It wouldn’t be fair to him if I took him away from everyone he loves,” John replied as he scooted closer to Alex, putting his hand on his.

At that, Alex inhaled a sharp breath, his eyes going wider, and John began to move his hand back “I-I’m sorry. I just thought that-”

Alex grabbed John’s hand again, looking straight back, if a bit nervously, at his companion “no, no, this is fine. I mean, I’m good with this.”

John stared at their joined hands, thoughtful. “So this-“ he lifted their hands “this is okay?”

“Yeah, it is,” Alexander confirmed, smiling

John nodded, biting his lip before getting even closer to Alex, their noses almost touching. “And this…?” he asked softly

“This is good too,” Alex replied, barely above a whisper, before one of them, or both, neither could possibly tell, finally closed the distance between the two of them with a quick, gentle brush of lips.

Their faces centimeters apart, they looked at each other, speechless, the rapid beating of their hearts nearly audible in the silence before the John bridged the gap between them again, gently putting a hand on Alex’s cheek as he captured his mouth.

Sighing, Alex moved to bury his hands in John’s thick curls and deepen the kiss.

“You _motherfucker-_ “ John and Alexander broke apart instantly, startled at the outburst. “Laf, do you see this shit? One fucking jelly. I had just _one_ jelly left. This game is rigged”

The two boys looked at each other before bursting into laughter. “Sounds like Candy Crush is giving Herc a hard time,” John remarked once he was able to catch his breath.

Nodding, Alex grinned. “Yeah, we should get back there before he throws his phone in the lake.”

Saying a final goodbye to the turtles, the two walked the short distance back to the boat in a comfortable silence.

After climbing back inside, while John busied himself with untying the rope, Alex resolved to tease his friend about how “Candy Crush is kicking your ass again, huh, Herc?” Which earned him a shove that, for the average sized teen would have been nothing, but knocked Alexander back enough to rock the boat, nearly causing John to fall out as he removed the rope from the tree, only avoided by Alex quickly grasping his hand.

With a grateful smile, John settled back on the seat beside Alex, resting his head on his shoulder, their hands still intertwined.

_It really was a great day for this._

**Author's Note:**

> It might be obvious that I've never written a kiss scene before, but I gave it a shot, so that's that. Also, these hooligans have been on the water for a good two hours.  
> I personally am recovering from my own tumble on a lakeside rock after illegally docking a boat and trying to walk on a wet rock in Converse. While my own group's reasons for doing so did not involve turtles, we did see some along the way. At least something good came out of me scraping up my legs.  
> Shout out to Maria, the boat attendant at Mohonk Mountain House. I am sorry we didn't listen to you.  
> (Seriously, check out the website for Mononk, which is the historic resort my class went to, reference pictures on my tumblr: http://theinsufficientgatsby.tumblr.com/post/143397871686/)


End file.
